Time to Move Forward
by Shispanic
Summary: 3 years after Taiga and Ryuuji promised to get married they're finally making good on their promise. The perfect day to get married rolls around, and everyone has come to enjoy this special moment. Even though everything seems to be falling into place, things aren't going as well for the bride and groom.
1. Chapter 1

_**I'm trying to get better at writing from a 3rd person perspective (like with Before the Eclipse) so bear with me as I get better. I'm picking this up as The Heartfilia wraps up because I like to have a full plate to work with, and if I am having trouble with one piece I can just start working on a different one. I hope you enjoy.**_

Three years had passed since that cold winter night where Taiga and Ryuuji had admitted their feelings to each other, in the middle of half frozen river. Three years had passed since the day that they had promised to run away and get married. Three years had passed since they had fixed their relationships with their families. But today wasn't about what happened three years ago, today was their chance to finally make their bond eternal. It was, of course, their wedding day.

"You're joking right. How can you be nervous about something like this, you've been together for three years, but now you get cold feet?" Ami was calm as always, but the girl she was speaking too looked like she was going to pass out.

"You stupid chihuahua, have you ever gotten married, no you haven't, so stop acting like you know everything." Taiga snapped at Ami, but instantly looked like she regretted it, "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean that. Thank you for being here, I just…" she stopped and looked down at the floor.

"I know, Minori isn't here yet. You're scared that she won't come because of everything that happened between her and Ryuuji when we were in high school," She stood up and grabbed Taiga's shoulders forcing her to look into her eyes, "but she's your best friend, I guarantee that she is just running a little late."

"I know, but I can't help but worry. She always pushes down her issues until she can't handle it anymore and then she freaks out and acts irrationally." She looked down once more. The room was silent for a moment, but the Taiga quickly stood up. Even though she was still less than five feet tall, her posture made her appear bigger, she smiled and stared out the window. " I trust you." she spoke the words to no one in particular, but Ami could tell who they were meant for.

Across the city a pink haired girl in a cherry pink girl was running through the streets. She was carrying a large duffel bag on her shoulder and had a baseball hat on top of her head, but even the hat couldn't hide how messy her hair was.

"Oh crap, I'm late. How could I be late on a day like today, I'm such a terrible friend" Minori mumbled to herself as she continued to run through the streets. Up until about 5 minutes ago when she stepped off a train, she had been traveling with her baseball team to games all over Japan, but she had quickly run off without them when the train arrived. Everything was planned to go perfectly that day, but their game went to the 15th inning and when they tried to board the train there wasn't enough room, so it took her almost an extra two hours to get to town.

"I'm so sorry Taiga, please wait for me." As she ran through the streets she frantically tried to keep her bag from falling of her shoulders while trying to fix her hair so she was presentable. As she ran she stopped paying attention to what was in front of her. As she quickly rounded a corner she ran into a man wearing a leather jacket.

"Oh I'm so sorry sir, that was my fault are you okay." she took this moment to catch her breath, but as she looked at him she received an awfully familiar feeling.

"I'm fine, thank you," although his voice sounded kind enough, there was something about him that gave a menacing look, "but I was wondering if you could help me find something."

"Oh sure, what are you looking for?" was it his body, maybe the way he held himself? Minori couldn't quite pinpoint what was off about him.

"I'm looking for a church that's supposed to be around here somewhere. Someone I know is getting married." Was it that slicked black blue hair, or …

"Oh, what a coincidence I'm going to a wedding right now. Could it be the same one?"

"Well my son is getting married, does the groom happen to be Ryuuji Takasu?"

Time seemed to stop for Minori.

'How could I not notice it,' she thought to herself, 'those damned eyes. Those eyes that he hates so much. The ones that strike fear into everyone who meets him.' Minori was currently stuck, she had no idea what to do. Should she tell him the truth and bring him along, or lie to him and let Ryuuji continue living in peace.

"Yes, I know Ryuuji. I guess if he's your son then you must have received an invitation, shouldn't there be an address on there." At this, he laughed incredibly loud. Minori didn't think what she had said was funny, but she chuckled along with him as not to seem out of place.

"Oh, he doesn't know I'm coming. I thought it would be a great surprise if I just showed up at his wedding," He stopped laughing and smiled, "so if you wouldn't mind…" he waved for Minori to lead the way.

"Oh of course." She quickly spit out, but in her mind she was only thinking about how large of a mistake she had just made.

"You're sure it was him. I don't want to storm out there if he isn't actually here." Ryuuji asked.

"Hey its me were talking about, not Haruta. I wouldn't give you false info would I?"

"That's just not cool dude, I'm not a total idiot. I thought we were better friends than that." Noto and Haruta looked at each other for a moment, but they both realized that there were more important things. The two groomsmen and Ryuuji were all quiet, until the door to the room they were in opened up.

"I just went to double check, and it is indeed Mr. Aisaka in the flesh," Kitamura walked in and closed the door, "but that does not necessarily mean that you need to take a threatening course of action. I believe it is best if you talk it over with Taiga before you act rashly."

"Always calculating Kitamura, did they do something to you while you were in the states that turned you into a robot?" Haruta asked with a stupid grin on his face.

"No, he's right, it isn't my place to just up and tell him to leave." Ryuuji pulled out his cell phone and quickly pressed his speed dial to call Ami. After about two seconds of ringing a click could be heard, "Hi, Ami, is Taiga there with you?"

"Of course, is there something you need?"

"We have a situation. Kitamura just went out and saw the Mr. Aisaka was waiting in the church. I want to know if Taiga would like me to ask him to leave." Silence followed. For what seemed like an eternity the four men stood in a circle as the waited intently for Ami's answer. There was utter silence, if one were to listen close enough they could hear each of their individual's heart beats as the anticipated the answer.

Finally a voice came back, "She's okay with him being here. She does want to thank you for asking before acting." Everyone let out a long sigh and Haruta fell into a small chair in the corner.

"Thanks Ami, I'll see you in a little bit." Ryuuji hung up the phone and put it away.

"Well, now that that's taken care of, let's make sure you've got your vows ready." Kitamura clapped his hand together and smiled. For the past year he had been studying abroad in the U.S. alongside of his girlfriend Kano. He had abruptly left for Japan when he learned that Ryuuji was getting married, and was furious that he had not informed him prior so that both him and Kano could have attended. As always, Ryuuji had no thought of it as something big and thought that he would be more inclined to continue studying in the states rather than leaving.

"He'll be fine, I mean if push comes to shove he can just make up some sappy speech about when they saw each other at graduation." Haruta let out a huge sigh, and closed his eyes as he stared at the ceiling. In the last three years, he had accomplished a surprising amount. He held over 20 different jobs and began attending 3 different universities, but each time he said 'It just doesn't feel right for me' currently he was working alongside his father to become an electrician.

"Nah, he'll just talk about everything that happened during that year of high school, I mean looking back a lot happened, and everything changed for us." Noto spoke up, even now he still had that cool guy persona around him, even though the second he started talking to any girl he'd turn into a puddle and would fail at constructing the most basic of sentences. He was currently studying at a large university in Tokyo where he could be close to his long time crush Maya Kihara who was at the wedding as one of Taiga's bride's maids.

"Guys, seriously, I'm going to be fine. I've been thinking about what I would say to Taiga for the last three years, and I know it's going to be perfect" They all smiled at Touma. Each of them knew how important of a day this was for him, and they were going to do everything in their power to make it perfect.


	2. Chapter 2

_**For this piece I'm going to post all my author's notes at the bottom so that they don't detract from the story. I hope you'll enjoy.**_

* * *

"You've got some nerve showing up to our daughters wedding. Do you think that coming here today will make up for all the times you abandoned her?"

"Yuu, come on, this is supposed to be a happy day. I don't want us to fight, can we at least act like we get along. For Taiga's sake." Silence followed Rikurou Aiska's words. Since his arrival he had received nothing but rude comments and dirty looks from everyone, but he had no ill intention for the day. Even his ex-wife had approached him in hopes of getting him to leave, but he refused to. He had a right to see his daughter married, and thi was one thing he would not miss.

"Fine, if you think that you can make up for over a decade's worth of pain, feel free to stay. I won't stop you, but don't think this changes anything between us, you are still despicable." With that Yuu Aisaka began to return to the church. Truthfully, Rikurou had come to support Taiga, but he knew that people would still see him as the selfish man that had abandoned his family on multiple occasions. But today wasn't about what other people thought of him, it was about being there to support his daughter, who on every other occasion he had abandoned. After reassuring himself that this wasn't about making it up to Taiga he turned to enter the church, but an arm grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"You shouldn't be here." A girl's voice could be heard. It was quiet and restrained, as if it was trying to hold back some emotions, but there was a crack at the end revealing how she felt. When Rikurou turned around he was faced with the pink haired girl who was Taiga's best friend, Minori Kushieda. She wasn't looking at him, but rather at the ground. She knew that if she looked into his eyes she wouldn't be able to control herself and would most likely attack him, "Why are you here?"

For a moment Rikurou was silent, he pondered the idea which he had just reassured himself of, but for some reason it didn't seem as solid of a reasoning as it had. "Taiga's my daughter, and I'm a terrible father. I know that nothing I do can make up for abandoning her over and over again, but that doesn't mean I'm off the hook. Even if it kills me inside, and people tell me I'm a piece of shit, it's still my responsibility to support her."

Minori looked up in shock at these words. His face looked serious, and it was clear that he believed in what he had said. She knew that no matter what she said he wouldn't leave.

"I can't forgive you, what you did is beyond redemption, but you have just as much a right as anyone else to be here. Please don't do anything to make me regret saying that, okay?" She gave him a light smile. Out of everyone, she may have been the most understanding, despite knowing how despicable of a person he could be.

"Thank you. I only want to be here to support her, that's more than enough for me."

"That's great and all, but can we go inside." The man standing behind Minori finally spoke. Rikurou looked him up and down. There was nothing too special to note about him, he was wearing a worn out leather jacket with a buttoned shirt underneath, his pants appeared to be matching to the jacket, but both were long since past the time they should have been replaced. He didn't appear to be dressed for the wedding, but was speaking in a tone as if he was prepared to attend alongside of himself and Minori.

"I'm sorry. Let's go, I'm sure the ceremony will be starting soon." Minori spoke quickly and seemed as if she was trying to dodge speaking directly to the man, " , would you please escort inside…" she trailed off and began walking towards the door without another word.

"Takasu," Rikurou said in a low voice, "if you'll follow me then." He held out his hand as if to guide him towards the door.

"Don't mind if I do." With that cocky remark the two fathers entered the church to attend their children's wedding.

* * *

There was a knocking on the door to the room that the bridesmaid and bride had gathered before the wedding.

"Come in" Taiga spoke. As the door opened she looked at it in hopes of some good news, even though this was supposed to be the best day of her life, it seemed to be filled with bad news followed by more bad news. She hoped that whatever came next would finally turn the day around so that it would be a fond memory when she looked back on it years from now.

And in came that good news, shrouded by a cloud of despair. Minori walked in the room, cheerful and smiling as always, but for people like Taiga and Ami, who knew Minori better than anyone, that smile could not hide the pool of despair.

"You can cut the act Minori, you can't hide the truth from us. We know you much better than that baseball team of yours." Ami said in a stuck up voice, she didn't feel like putting up with Minori's fake persona and wished to get right to the point.

"I really can't hide anything from you two." she gave a light laugh and then began to frown as she looked at the two girls. She took a deep breath and began, "It's Ryuuji's father, apparently he heard about the wedding and came here."

The room was speechless, nothing but the sound of wind coming from outside could be heard. Minori looked down at the ground after finishing, she couldn't look at Taiga right now because the look on her face would most likely tear her soul apart, and she knew that Ami wouldn't look much better. Just as Taiga had regained hope that this would be a happy day, that illusion was once again shattered by bad news.

"But . . . but . . ." Taiga couldn't form a sentence, she kept stumbling and the light began to fade from her eyes as if she were dying. "I . . . can't believe it. . .Ryuuji's . . . father?"

"It's okay, everything is going to be okay. I'll make him leave right now, I've got people who can make him disappear so that he doesn't ever bother you two." Ami quickly blurted out as she reached for her cell phone which was sitting on a small table near-by. One of the perks of being a famous fashion designer was that she could get almost anything with a phone call, but she rarely used that power around her friends because she wanted to be treated like a normal person. This, however, was a very special exception. "I'm going to make that bastard pay . . . he thinks he can walk back into his son's life on his wedding day . . . that piece of shit has it coming." Rage began to fill her voice as she fumbled with the cellphone.

"Stop." Taiga said in a firm voice as she grabbed Ami's hand. "It's not for us to decide. Ryuuji asked me if I wanted my father here, it's his choice if his father is here whether he knows it or not." Ami looked at the small girl with tears in her eyes, this was only the second time she had ever seen her like that, and she hadn't been able to argue with her the last time so it wasn't even worth the effort.

"Taiga, I know this is a thing of respect, but I don't know . . ."

"Ami! I said to stop!" Taiga was yelling now. She took the cellphone from Ami's hand and closed it. "It's not for us to decide. Minori, please go get Ryuuji, this isn't something that we can talk about over the phone."

"Wait, you want me to bring him over here?"

"Yes, and don't tell him anything until he arrives." Taiga said this with such a confident voice that Minori didn't know how to reply. She stood there for a moment in shock, but quickly recovered. She nodded and turned to leave, but before she closed the door she said,

" I hope you know what you're doing" and closed the door.

* * *

"Taiga wants to see all of you. It's something important that we all need to discuss, but specifically it has to do with you Ryuuji." Minori was straight to the point when she walked into the room where the Groom and his Groomsmen were waiting in.

"All of us, what could be so important that she want all of us to talk about." Ryuuji seemed surprised, but little did he know of the problem that laid before him

"Will you please just come, Taiga will explain everything when we're all there. This is something really important, so please." Minori began shaking, this wasn't like her. Each of them noticed that she seemed to be somewhat shaken up, but they all silently agreed to just go along with it. They filed out of the room, with Ryuuji in the rear and they began to cross the church to the room Taiga was in.

Halfway across the church they passed by the chapel where all of the guests were waiting, talking with each other before the ceremony began. Minori and the other's shuffled quickly through the crowd trying to avoid wasting time, but something caught Ryuuji's attention. It was the sound of his mother, Yasuko Takasu, yelling at someone. Her tone of voice sounded strained, so even though he could not see her, he still knew that she was angry about something.

"You can't be here! You're going to ruin everything, please just leave!" Ryuuji turned to look where the voice originated from, but that direction was blocked by people. Before he could even take a step in that direction, something grabbed at his suit jacket.

"Please, don't. . . Talk to Taiga first she needs to . . ." Minori's voice trailed off and her hand slipped away from Ryuuji's jacket. He turned his head slightly so that he could see her face. It was hanging down from her shoulders limply and she seemed just about ready to cry. It was the kind of face that he hadn't seen on her face since they had been in Highschool, and he hoped he would never have to see that face again.

"It's okay Minori, I'm coming." He grabbed her shoulder and shook her a bit, hoping to bring a smile back to her face. Although she did return to reality, her face still held a grim look on it and she moved in a very robotic manner. She turned and continued walking without saying a word. Ryuuji walked beside her, but looked over his shoulder a bit, hoping he could see what his mother was so angry about, but the crowd never cleared.

As they continued to walk he hoped that whatever had upset his mother passed and that it had something to do with what Taiga wanted to talk to them all about.

* * *

The door to the room Taiga and Ami were waiting in opened, and in came 4 men and a girl. They were Takasu Ryuuji, accompanied by his 2 groomsmen and best man, as well as the maid of honor, Minori Kushieda. The best man, Yusaku Kitamura, was casually conversing with the two groomsmen, Koji Haruhta and Hisamitu Noto, while both Ryuuji and Ami looked gloomy and disturbed.

"Did you tell him anything yet?" Taiga spoke in a loud voice, staring directly at Minori, but she shook her head no. Taiga looked down, a gloomy mood, similar to that of Ryuuji and Minori's fell over her face. "I guess I did tell you to not say anything, didn't I?"

"What's going on? What was so urgent that you had to talk to me in person?" Ryuuji blurted out. His voice was somewhat annoyed, but Taiga didn't react to it, she knew what she had to say would change everything.

"Have you ever met your father Ryuuji?" Taiga looked up, directly at Ryuuji, with a frown and weak eyes.

"No, I never have, and sure as hell would never want to. If he didn't want to be there for me and my mother, then he has no reason to see me now."

"Are you sure? Do you really think that?"

"Of course I do, why would I ever want to see him."

"I don't know, maybe you could just talk to him about. . ."

"Taiga, what is this about? Why are you asking all these question about my dad." Ryuuji grabbed Taiga's shoulders tightly, squeezing her small body, almost in a threatening way, but she knew he wouldn't hurt her.

"Ryuuji," She pulled away from him, and turned to look out the window, her face out of his view, "your father is here today. He arrived with Minori." Her voice was shaking, but her body stood firm. There was a slight air of sadness in her voice, but it came out without a stutter."

"Wa. . .What? My dad here? I can't. . ." Ryuuji began to fumble his words. His brain was moving so quickly that each idea seemed to blend with the last one and it was making his brain go crazy. His body began to sway back and forth in a melodic manner, and his vision was becoming blurred. "Dad?" With those words, he closed his eyes and began to fall.

"Ryuuji!" Ami yelled out and tried to help hold him up, but no one else helped to do the same, but she wasn't able to support his weight. "Ryuuji?! Ryuuji, are you okay?" She was shaking him, and trying to sit up under his full body weight.

"Don't just stand there idiots, help her." Minori said as she bent over to help Ami lift Ryuuji up. Each of the men bent over to help as well, and they managed to place him in a chair.

"Let me check his pulse." Kitamura said as he pushed everyone else away and kneeled next to the passed out Ryuuji. Feeling his neck, he knelt there looking at his watch and mentally counting. "His heart rate is quite a bit above normal, but he seems to just be passed out. He'll regain consciousness soon enough. Other than that, Taiga, is what you said true? Is Mr. Takasu truly here?"

"Yes, he arrived with Minori, but she seems to have just met him on her way here from the train." Taiga had briefly turned around when she heard Ami yell out, but she once again turned to the open window and looked out towards the city.

"Hmmm . . ." Deep in thought, Kitamura stroked his chin, "He's probably overwhelmed by the news. We all need to leave, but you Taiga. When he wakes up, be there for him, and talk him through it slowly. And please, don't let him make a rash decision in his anger, he should finally meet his father. From what Yasuko told me, he needs to find closure in his family before he can truly be happy." As Kitamura finished he pushed everyone out of the room and into the hallway, closing the door behind them. The room fell silent once more, leaving only the bride and groom alone.

"Closure. . ." Taiga whispered these words silently, ". . .I don't know if I can be there to help him. . ." Fear began to swell up inside Taiga, and a cold sweat began to drip down her forehead. Her breathing became inconsistent and frantic, her heart began to race, and she seemed to be leaning towards the window. "I'm so sorry Ryuuji, I can't help you with this."

With that, Taiga crawled out the window and began to run for the city. For the one place she could sit and clear her head, away from all the problems brought by her and Ryuuji's family, somewhere that held happy memories from her days in highschool, the river.

* * *

 _ **Welcome back to another chapter of my first Toradora fanfic. I can't remember if I've said this, but this is probably the best romance anime I've ever seen, and it ended much to quickly. This story is my way of looking into the future of that world, and what laid ahead in their lives. I've been working on this chapter for the last month since I posted the first, and it has been in editing for over a week (I couldn't figure out how to properly word some scenes without becoming repetitive). But I digress, I hope you enjoyed chapter two, and will look forward to the coming chapters (there will be a lot more coming and some cameos as well). Until then, please feel free to leave a review (positive and negative both help) and follow to receive updates. Until then.**_


	3. Chapter 3

Taiga's eyes burned and her make-up streamed down her face from her tears. ' _Why? Why did everything have to happen today, of all days? It's like the world wants to watch me suffer.'_ She ran through the streets of a Japanese city, heels in hand, head looking down at the ground. Although it was a beautiful Spring day, very few people were roaming the streets and there was no traffic. The few people around didn't notice the girl's sad composure and went about their business as if nothing were wrong. Taiga was slowly picking up speed, but in that haste, she began to have less awareness of what was around her. Her brain was like a freight train which had lost it's brakes, no matter what she tried to think about, it all went back to her concerns about not being able to support Ryuuji like he supported her. ' _He's always looking out for me, trying to do what's best for me. Why can't I do the same for him? Am I not strong enough, or do I not love him? Why can't I just-'_ Taiga's head ran directly into something and it fell over hitting the ground hard.

"What the hell!? Why don't you look where you're walking kid?" On the ground was a girl with a golden hairband in her short brown hair. She seemed angry, but didn't look as if she was in too much pain. Her head was still looking down, but she quickly looked up to get a view of the face of the short girl that had knocked her over.

"I'M NOT A KID!" Taiga's emotions were quickly getting the better of her as her sadness quickly morphed into a fit of rage. She tried to mask her emotional strife, but the girl who she had knocked over couldn't be fooled. "I'm… I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." She apologized halfheartedly and turned to quickly keep moving, but the the girl grabbed her wrist before she could get away.

"Hey…" She paused for a minute, not knowing if it would be alright for her to intrude on someone else's problems, "I'm sorry for yelling at you. It looks like you're having a rough time, do you want to talk about it?" Taiga stopped moving, not just because the girl was gripping her wrist, but because she was surprised by her response. She didn't know what to do. Her mind was debating if it was alright for her to involve someone else in her own personal problems.

"I'll be fine, this is something that I have to deal with on my own." Against her own judgement, she pushed another person away, someone who wanted to help her. Every time someone came into her life, she couldn't stop herself from pushing them away, her mother, her friends, and even the person she fell in love with. ' _Maybe I'm was destined to be alone for the rest of my life'_ she thought. As she began to pull away, she felt the girl's grip quickly tighten.

"No you won't be." The girl said firmly. This girl, who had no connection to Taiga and had no reason to care what was happening, wasn't letting Taiga leave. "I know that it's none of my business, but I can't help but feel something familiar about this situation. Last time, I let that person walk away and I regret it everyday. Please don't let me make the same mistake again."

Taiga didn't want to look at the girl, she didn't know if he could push her away again. "I'm sorry, this doesn't concern you." Although she rejected the girl's help, she made no effort to escape her grasp. "This is something that I have to deal with on my own, no one can help me solve this."

"You're so fragile, this wall you're putting up…" soft spoken words that hit Tagia like a cannon. "How many people can you run away from?"

"You don't…" Taiga started to respond, but stopped. ' _How many people can I run away from? I thought I was supposed to stop running. I made up with my mom so that I could be with Ryuuji with her permission, but I'm just running away again. Has nothing changed?'_ Her thoughts were all contradicting each other, and nothing seemed like it was working out. ' _In the midst of such a huge mess, wouldn't it be_ _better to have someone to talk to?'_

"Come on, I wasn't going to take no as an answer anyway." The girl in the yellow headband had stood up while Taiga pondered and was now standing in front of her, waiting to be lead somewhere. "Let's go wherever you were trying to go, I'm sure you had somewhere you would have liked to clear your head." Nothing else was said, Taiga began to walk, leading the girl towards the river in utter silence.

"Do think she'll be okay? I know she's supposed to be the strongest of all of us, but I can't help but feel like she'll be overwhelmed by something like this." Noto stood with his back to the wall, leaning against it as everyone gathered in a circle.

"If I know Aisaka, she'll be fine. She's never let something like this get to her before, she is the palm top tiger after all." Kitamura smiled as he thought about everything that she'd already gone through. He was lying to himself, saying that nothing got to her, he just didn't want to think about how weak she had seemed. If she wasn't able to keep her composure, would any of them? Nothing seemed right when Taiga was the one who wasn't able to understand what was going on.

"It's not good to lie to yourself Kitamura." Ami broke his thoughts, "She may be the palm top tiger, but she's also as fragile as a porcelain doll. She'll crack and I don't know if any of us can help put her back together."

"Taiga a porcelain doll? Don't make me laugh, that girl's nothing like a doll, nothing phases her." Haruta started laughing, as if the situation didn't matter. "This is all just a bit of stress, don't worry about it."

Throughout all of this Minori remained silent, staring at the floor. ' _She'll be okay, right?'_ nothing seemed certain to her anymore. In the years since High School had ended everyone had grown slightly apart and, although everything seemed alright, she couldn't help but wonder how Taiga felt. "She's going to be fine." In an almost whisper Minori tried to reassure herself of that one truth, but even then she wasn't too sure.

The group continued talking about their past adventures and eventually started talking about what had happened in the last 3 years while they had been apart. Ami boasted about her successful fashion design studio, Kitamura talked about the differences between customs in Japan and in the United States, Noto talked about his studies in Tokyo, and Haruta spoke about all the different jobs he had enjoyed. For once, things felt half normal and even Minori joined in the conversation. Hope returned to everyone's voices and there was a nostalgic feeling to all of them being together again. ' _Maybe things will really be alright.'_ Minori thought to herself.

The door to the room they were next to slammed open. "She's gone!" Ryuuji yelled. "Where is she?!." Everything stopped, the talking, the laughter, even the breathing. "Well, someone say something!" Ryuuji was frantic and walked up to Kitamura and grabbed his shoulders. "Where is she?!"

"Calm down, we can find her." Kitamura tried to reassure Ryuuju, but to no avail.

"How can I be calm? First my dad comes back, and now Taiga's gone. How the hell am I supposed to be calm?" Ryuuji let go of Kitamura's arms and pushed past everyone else. "If none of you are going to help then I'll just find her myself."

"No. No you won't." Ami's response was almost instantaneous. "You won't be going anywhere. All of these guests need someone to tell them what's happening, and what's more, you need to deal with your father."

"Like hell I want to deal with that asshole, someone can go and tell him to leave."

"Ryuuji, stop!" Ami yelled at him, but nothing was able to deter him from going. He continued to walk down the hall until he rounded the corner and was out of sight of the others. They stood there in utter shock as each one tried to process what had just happened.

"That idiot still hasn't changed, has he?" Ami said to no one in particular.

Ryuuji stormed through the hallways, still troubled by the issue of Taiga's disappearance. ' _Where could she be, and why would she leave without saying anything?'_ None of it made sense to him, he couldn't think of anything that would cause her to leave without so much as a hint to why she left or where she went. He was almost to the side entrance of the church when something made him stop in his tracks. Standing in the doorway, smoking a cigarette, was a dark-haired man wearing a leather jacket and a ratty dress shirt underneath. He didn't know his name, or anything about him for that matter, but his gut was telling him that he wasn't someone that should be associated with. Just as he began to turn around, the man sighed and threw down his cigarette. He stomped on it, and turned to reenter the church.

"Oh, Ryuuji, it's you." He said in a surprised tone. He called Ryuuji by his first name, but why did someone he didn't know refer to him in such a casual manner. "I'm sorry, you probably don't know me so I shouldn't refer to you so casually. Takasu, it's nice to see you."

"I'm sorry, I don't think I've ever met you before, would you mind telling me your name." Although Ryuuji had no wish to know this man, he felt it only polite to ask his name. There was something eerily familiar about him, but Ryuuji couldn't quite place what it was that felt so familiar.

"My name… hm… I haven't used my name in a long time, let me think about it."

' _He doesn't even know his own name. Who is this idiot?'_

"That's it," He snapped his fingers, "Takahiro." He had a sly grin on his face as he looked at Ryuuji. Something about that crooked smile began to cause his blood to boil, and he felt a sudden urge to strangle him, even though the the man hadn't done anything.

"Ok, Takahiro, why are you here?"

"Hm, isn't that obvious. I would think you of all people would know why I was here."

"If you're here for a religious service, I'll have to tell you that there aren't any happening today. The church is currently being used for a wedding."

"Of course it is, and I'm here for my son's wedding." Ryuuji's heart stopped. He just said ' _ **his son's'**_. He couldn't be telling the truth. His father had disappeared with some woman before he was born. He left his mother alone, to raise him, without so much as a penny to help her get by. Wasn't he just the source of all his problems. "Hey, are you alright? You're starting to shake a bit."

' _Am I alright? Hell no I'm not! You're the cause of all my problems, you're the one who gave me this damn face and you're the reasons that my mother had to work so hard. I should kill you right now, you have no right to be here and claim to be my father.'_ Ryuuji's mind was filled with these horrible thoughts, but nothing came out of his mouth. They stood in silence for a few moments, Ryuuji staring into that evil face. When he looked at him, he understood why people were normally scared of him before they got to know him. Those eyes like black holes and that smile like a wolf eyeing its prey. He couldn't stand how alike the two of them looked, it only reminded him of the relationship the two of them shared. "Please leave."

"Huh? Why would you want me to leave?"

"I'm asking you to please leave." Ryuuji was using all his energy to speak in a calm, level voice, but he didn't know how long he would be able to keep it up."

"Come on Ryuuji, I'm just here to be your father. I even talked to Ya and she said she was fine with me being here."

"What did you just say?"

"I talked to Ya an-" Takahiro's words were cut off as he quickly moved his head to the side to dodge a punch. Ryuuji had lost control.

"Don't you dare use that name for her. You don't deserve to even know someone like her." He was angry, and there was nothing he could do anymore to hold himself back. He threw another punch at the man and, once again, he quickly side stepped to dodge the punch. For someone who had to be at least 40, he was able to move quite quickly and nimbly. "Hold still old man." He started throwing punch after punch, but no matter how quickly he followed up, he seemed to be able to predict where he was going to punch.

"You're not going to be able to hit me, would you just stop for a second and listen to me."

"Shut the hell up!" He yelled, and threw one last punch right for his face. This time he didn't sidestep the punch, but instead his right hand moved, in a flash, to grab his wrist and twist it behind his back. "You think I'm just gonna stop because you're fighting back?" He was still yelling and moved to try and jam his elbow into Takahiro's gut, but his left arm quickly stopped the elbow.

"Fine, you don't want to talk about it, then I'll just have to force you to listen." He began twisting his arm further and further causing Ryuuji to wince in pain. He knew exactly how to cause the most pain, without breaking his arm. "Now, do you want me to break your arm, or do you want to sit quietly and listen to my story?"

"Forget it, I'm not going to listen to whatever you have to say. So just break my arm and leave." Ryuuji was speaking through gritted teeth, but his voice was still angry and didn't show any sign of giving in.

"Fine, if that's how you want it." Takahiro let go Ryuuji's arm and began to walk out of the exit that was in front of them. "If you don't want to listen to what I have to say, then it's not worth me taking the time to tell you the whole story." He opened the door and walked out, letting it slowly close behind him.

' _Good he's gone now. I won't have to deal with him anymore.'_ He turned to head back into the church, but he realized that the fastest way to leave the church would be through that exit. ' _But if I go out that way he'll just be waiting for me. Whatever, it doesn't matter, I'll just walk past him'_ Ryuuji exited the church and looked around as before continuing on. As he created a visor with his hand, he surveyed the street that was behind the church. ' _Where is he?'_ No matter how much he looked he saw no sign of his father. With that, Ryuuji proceeded to leave the church, and walk down the street, as he rounded the corner, he thought he saw someone being pulled into an alleyway. ' _That couldn't be…'_ Ryuuji quickly ran to the edge of the alley and peeked around the corner. There he saw something that he himself couldn't come to understand. There was a man, who claimed to be his father, being beaten by several men in professional looking clothing. ' _The Yakuza?!' What the hell has he gotten himself into?'_ Before he could even finish his thoughts he was rounding the corner.

"Get the hell off of him!" He yelled as he ran. The men turned in shock towards him, but he didn't give them any time to react. He threw a right hook to the closest man's face and knocked him to the ground. He quickly followed up by grabbing the one on top of Takahiro and throwing him to the ground. "Get up old man, we gotta move."

"Who are you calling old man?" Takahiro complained as Ryuuji picked him up from the ground.

"Shut up and run!" He dragged along Takahiro as they headed for the other end of the alleyway. They rounded the corner and Ryuuji let go of Takahiro's arm and began to sprint, "Just follow me." The two began sprinting as fast as they could through the streets, heading in any direction away from the Yakuza men.

 _ **A/N: Well, I finished Chapter 3 (yay), I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. I can't promise that Chapter 4 won't take as long, but I will try my hardest to try and make sure it doesn't. But with that out of the way, what did you think? I've been working on this for the whole 2 months and I think it turned out pretty well, but maybe I'm just happy I finished another chapter. Either way, I really enjoyed writing another chapter and will hopefully be posting more stuff now that I've finished finals and have more time to spend writing. Until then, stay healthy and keep writing.**_


	4. Chapter 4

"You're pretty fast for an old man." Ryuuji panted as he kept sprinting.

"You're not too bad yourself kid, but you've got a long way to go if you want to compete with me." and with that, Takahiro sprinted ahead, already sure of where Ryuuji's destination was. He sprinted right into the hill in front of them and continued up it without ever slowing down. Ryuuji grinned at the challenge he put forth and sprinted to catch up.

By the time they both reached the front gate at the top of the hill, they were panting for breath and laying on the ground. At first, there was only the sound of both of them gasping for breath, but it was quickly followed by laughter. It wasn't anything in particular, but the two of them couldn't help but begin to laugh hysterically at the situation they had escaped.

"You sucker punched him right in the face. Ha! Who would have thought someone like _you_ had it in em'" Takahiro teased.

"Oh please, if I hadn't stepped in you would still be on the ground getting beat to hell."

"Yeah, you're probably right, but it's still surprising…" He trailed off, still chuckling to himself.

"So… What was that? What did you do to cause the Yakuza to come after you?"

"Hm? Well, I guess that's a very good story, but not one for today. I think there's still something very important that you're forgetting about."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"I don't know, maybe you're wedding?"

"Oh…" Ryuuji stopped laughing instantly, "...I don't know anymore. Taiga left so abruptly, and if she's scared to commit, maybe…"

"Oh would you get over yourself. Are you in love with her?"

"Well, yeah."

"Well then, is she in love with you?"

"She says she is."

"Then there's everything you need to know. I fell in love at one point too, but I got scared and wasn't ready for it. I let it slipped right through my fingers and lost it." Ryuuji turned to Takahiro and saw his face had a slight smile with a serious undertone. "Ryuuji, I know I'm not the father you wanted, or maybe you don't even consider me your father, but even as a complete stranger I know you shouldn't let this slip through your hands."

"Yeah, you're right, but…"

"Nope, no buts about it. This is final, we're going to find her and you're going to get married today." He picked himself up and reached out his hand to help Ryuuji stand too.

"Thanks." He took his hand and they both stood up, wiping themselves off in the process.

"So… Is there any reason that you brought me to your old school?"

"Oh, I guess I just had a feeling she might be here."

"Well then, let's go take a look." Takahiro began to walk into the gate and beckoned Ryuuji to follow promptly.

* * *

The two girls walked in silence. It must have been a strange site to see a girl who looked no older than twelve in a wedding dress and another girl in her teens being led by the small girl, but neither of them paid any attention to the world around them. They just continued to walk slowly and quietly towards the large river. The girl in the yellow headband could only stare at the back of the short girl's head, but she could see her shaking a little bit in an attempt to conceal her emotions from the world around her.

When they arrived, the short girl sat down on a set of stone steps, totally disregarding if she got her dress dirty. She prompted the other girl to sit as well and she complied willingly.

"So… What's your name?" The girl in the yellow headband asked causally.

"Taiga, Taiga Aisaka, you?"

"Well, I'm the great…" she began, but something caused her to stop, "... let's just call me your guardian angel for today." she turned and smiled at Taiga.

"Huh, a guardian angel?" Taiga scoffed at the comment.

"A real charmer, aren't ya? What could cause you to be so sad on such a beautiful day?"

"Have you ever been in love?" Taiga asked without even listening to the girl's question.

"Love? I don't really know. I used to think it was just some kind of disease, something that the human mind naturally created so that it could experience purpose, but…" She stopped to think about what love meant to her, "...yeah, I think I may have been in love, or, I guess, I'm still in love."

"Well, I'm going to tell you right now, love that person with everything you've got, because if you don't, they'll resent you forever." Taiga spat bitterly.

The girl in the headband debated what she had just said. "I don't think that anyone who loves you can hate you. If they really do love you, they'll accept you for who you are and stand by you through all of your choices. Even though he's never told me it, I know deep inside that he loves me because he's always there when everyone else abandons me. It's just kind of this feeling I have…" She stared off with a glazed look in her eyes, imagining past adventures with someone.

"Yeah, that's a nice story and all, but we all have to wake up from our fairy tales one day." Taiga spoke bitterly. "The world isn't something that understands fair, or right, or even just kindness in general. No, the world constantly gets in the way of your happiness and drags you into the pits of despair as you try to grasp to that fleeting happiness." The girl in the headband sat in silence, listening to Taiga's words.

"Did you hurt them?"

"What?"

"You heard me. Did you hurt them? The person you love."

"I don't…" Taiga trailed off as she thought about what she had said. ' _I didn't hurt him, but I wasn't able to help him, so isn't that the same as hurting him?'_ She was having trouble putting together everything that happened that day. Her emotions began to bubble and her thoughts were becoming clouded in hate and anger. She began to shake furiously, but an arm wrapped around her and pulled her close, comforting her, causing her anger to subside.

"It's ok. We all hurt the people we love, it's all apart of loving that person. The most important thing is that you still show that person you love them."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"Well…" The girl thought for a moment and tried to think of a good answer to her question, "Some kind of display of affection. Yeah, do something to try and make it up to them. Maybe something that you always think of when you're together, or just something that would make him happy." The girl turned and smiled at Taiga, obviously proud of her answer.

"Something that reminds me of him…" Taiga gave an airy laugh, but the idea drove itself deeper into Taiga's mind and she began to think of all the memories they shared. The night they met and she punched a hole in his wall, the play they put on together, the way he fought to win the school competition for her, and even… At that moment something clicked in her head, things began to run again and ideas of how to apologize to Ryuuji became clear.

"I could almost swear that I heard the gears in your head begin to turn." She chuckled,  
"Well, alright then, let's put whatever plan you came up with in motion." But at the moment a small buzzing noise came from the girl's pocket, "Aw crap, I'm late. Sorry kid, but this is where I have to leave you, but don't worry, you'll be just fine." As she began to run off she pulled out a yellow armband from her other pocket and fastened it to her arm with 2 safety pins, "AND DON'T FORGET, HE'LL LOVE YOU REGARDLESS!" she yelled back as she continued onward.

"Yeah," Taiga spoke to herself, "No matter what, I love Ryuuji and he loves me." She reassured herself and walked back into the city, ready to put her plan into motion.

* * *

"THEY'RE BOTH WHAT?!" Ami yelled.

"Don't yell, we're still in a church you know." Kitamura calmly replied trying to settle down Ami.

"Don't tell me to calm down when the wedding we're at doesn't have a bride or groom!" She snapped back. The two continued to argue back and forth about the rising issue and Minori was forced to sit back and watch.

"Children are so fickle aren't they." Yasuko laughed as the two continued to bicker, "But you still seem to be quite composed, any reason why?"

"I really couldn't tell you, maybe I'm just so sure that this is a passing phase at this point, or maybe it's just that…"

"Just that your lingering feelings toward Ryuuji are getting in the way?" Minori cringed as Yasuko spoke about what she was trying to avoid, "He's got quite the following of girls, even though he's so infatuated with Taiga." Yasuko seemed to laugh a bit, but Minori knew that she wasn't trying to tease her.

"I decided a long time ago not to act on my feelings, and it's not like he would respond to them at this point anyway. I know for a fact that Ryuuji would never leave Taiga, even if she were to die, he would never fall in love with someone the way he has with her"

"You always were the mature one." She smirked, "But what about our little fashion designer over there, you two weren't the only ones vying to be with him."

"She's… something else. I can't follow her thoughts or what leads her to do what she does. It's like she knows exactly what's going to happen, but chooses to just sit there and watch it."

"She's strong though. Even though Ryuuji rejected her over and over, she refused to give up and never played with him."

"Did you find all of our high school drama to be entertaining?"

"No, not at all, if anything it was quite painful to watch. All of you went through a lot back then and having to deal with parents like myself or the Aisaka's is no easy feat either. You kids are quite the extraordinary group of people."

"I guess that's true. Can I ask you one other question? Who is Takahiro?"

Yasuko paused for a second, hesitating about what to say next. "Who is he? Well, you already know he's Ryuuji's father, but I guess you want to know who he is on a personal level?"

"I just want to know how you can be okay with someone who abandoned you before your son was even born. How can you even stand to see such a man again?"

"Because he's no different from his son, protecting others even if it causes him pain and suffering." Yasuko smiled, "He's quite the amazing person really, and when he came back today I was both overjoyed and angry at him."

"And why is that?"

"Well, let me tell you a story…"

* * *

Ryuuji and Takahiro entered a classroom in the empty school. "Doesn't look like she's here." Takahiro stated frankly.

"Just wait a second." Ryuuji said as he walked over to the corner of the classroom and opened up a storage locker.

"What are you doing? You think your wife is going to be hiding in a locker?"

"Well…" Ryuuji closed the locker, "It was my best guess. I don't know where she'd be besides here."

"We could check the rest of the school?"

"No, the only place she cares about in the place would be here. This was her hiding space."

"Picked a real charmer for yourself didn't you kid? A girl who can fit in a storage closet is a real treasure." He sarcastically laughed, but Ryuuji just ignored him and looked out the window at the city below.

"I'm not giving up. Even if I have to search the whole city, I will find her." Ryuuji said defiantly.

"Well then, I guess I'll call in a little favor to help us out." He pulled out an all black cellphone and clicked one of the buttons to speed dial a number.

* * *

"Yep, it's me, I need you guys to tell me if you've seen a girl who could fit inside a storage locker."

"Yes, I said a storage locker. Did I stutter?"

"Don't apologize, just tell me yes or no."

"Down by the river? Damn was the kid off, alright, thanks for the help." And with a click he closed the phone and put it back in his pocket.

* * *

"Down by the river?"

"Down by the river."

The two began to walk out of the building in silence, but when they got to the hill Ryuuji had had enough of the silence.

"Where do you live?"

"Oh, nowhere of concern to you."

"But what if I want to come visit you?"

"I wouldn't want you to and you wouldn't want to either."

"Okay, what do you do?"

"Nothing all that important."

"Stop avoiding my questions, I'm trying to build a relationship with you." Ryuuji stopped, obviously annoyed that Takahiro refused to give him a definitive answer. "If you're really my father then start acting like one and answer my questions."

"I think I've already made it clear that I'm not your average father. So if you would please, can we go back to finding your wife?" And Takahiro began to walk off down the hill again. Ryuuji jogged a little to catch up.

"Alright then, don't be a father, but that doesn't mean you can't answer my questions. How did you meet my mother?"

"Well, it wasn't anything fancy. We were both shopping for food one day and I bumped into her at the supermarket. Her cart was full of frozen meals and other cheap food and I couldn't help but feel bad for her. I asked her if she'd like a freshly cooked meal that night and I brought her to my place and cooked her a large meal. She ate it so quickly and I couldn't help but laugh at how unladylike she was acting."

"She didn't have a lot of money back then, and she doesn't have a lot of money now. She's always pushed herself to make things happen, not only for me, but for those around her too."

"That she did. She has the spirit to not give up and to not let anything stop her from doing something. I would consider that her greatest aspect, although her body isn't anything to put to shame." He laughed.

"Quite the charmer aren't you? I still can't believe you cooked for her though."

"Oh I'm a fantastic chef, trust me, I don't skimp when it comes to what I'm skilled at. But anyway, after she ate that night, we talked for hours about anything we could think of. Our dreams, our ambitions, our pasts, our futures, our families. It was the first time in a long time I had just been able to casually talk with someone in years."

"Did something happen that caused you not to be able to?"

"You could say that, but it doesn't matter. What did matter was the way your mother and I clicked, it felt like something out of a movie. She was amazing, not the smartest, but her spirit is what preserves that undying sense of youth. I fell in love and you can guess where it went from there."

"If you were so infatuated, then why did you leave her?" Ryuuji said coldly.

"That's a good question kid, but it looks like we're out of time for today folks, so I hope you'll tune in next time." Takahiro joked as they walked to the shore of the river.

The two searched around the shore for a few hours, but they couldn't find Taiga anywhere. Even after they asked a group of four high school students looking for pixies or something, they still couldn't find any clues as to where the Taiga was.

"Well, my source is never wrong so she has to be nearby. It's possible she went back into the city, let's go there and ask around. Someone has to have seen someone as distinct as her."

"Yeah." Ryuuji paused and continued, "I'm sorry for asking such personal questions. You don't even know me and I'm just trying to barge into your life." He laughed, "Almost seems kind of reversed, the child trying to break back into the father's life."

"No. I'm sorry Ryuuji, I wasn't there and I can't even offer you any reasoning behind why I couldn't be there. I promise you, when this is over, I will give you the answers you're looking for." Takahiro swore in a deep serious tone.

"I'll hold you to that." And the two of them began to walk back into the city.

* * *

 ** _A/N; Well, this is the fastest I've written a chapter and gotten it edited. If you read my other stories, which many of you probably don't, I talked about having done no work on this chapter back on the 9th, but I had the outlines for the next 3 chapters done. Well, I got right to work on chapter 4 and actually haven't been able to stop. But other than being proud of not procrastinating, Yay! Another chapter is out._**

 ** _If you guys have been keeping up and paying attention, you know that the "mysterious" girl with a yellow headband is none other than the brigade leader Haruhi Suzumiya. While this isn't a crossover (and never will be) I wanted to throw in some other tsundere-ish characters to basically guide Taiga through her part of this story, so Haruhi was up first and, hopefully, there will be more to come (and by hopefully I mean that you can bet there will be more). If you don't like this, eh, I don't think you should worry as they aren't some huge part of the story and won't be involved in the key events of it, think of them as innocent bystanders who spout some words of wisdom throughout the story._**

 ** _As for everything else... it'll be explained? I don't know how to comment on the rest of my writing without spoiling stuff for future chapters, so I guess you'll just have to look out for it. Also, from now on I'll be trying to give an estimate as to when the next chapter will be out. So I'm thinking about 3 weeks, maybe? Take these with a grain of salt because I honestly can't predict my schedule or how long it'll take for me to edit._**

 ** _Wow this is a long author's note, sorry about that. Anyway, thanks for reading, leave a review if you feel so inclined, or maybe follow to receive future updates. Also, sorry about uploading this twice, forgot to put in the line breaks for changing perspectives. Until next time, stay well._**

 ** _P.S._** ** _strawpoll,me/7134363 , change the ',' to a '.' and vote on the future of this series. No, not whether it's finishing or not, I'm talking sequel and epilogue territory. Also, the votes for this don't necessarily mean that that will be the outcome. Thank You._**


	5. Chapter 5

The room grew silent as Yasuko finished her story. Halfway through, Kitamura and Ami had stopped arguing as they listened intently. Even after she finished her explanation, the room was silent as each of them tried to take in everything they had heard.

"That's… quite the story." Kitamura started, unsure of how to respond to what he had heard.

"I agree, I guess you can't blame him, but…" Ami trailed off beginning to sink deeper into her thoughts.

As the other three returned to their conversations, Minori's phone vibrated, ' _Meet back at the station in two hours, our schedule has been pushed up. Be there or you're getting left behind.'_

"You're leaving, aren't you?" Ami said, not even leaving a moments silence for her to think about what she had just read. "I guess we can't blame you, it's not like you spend time with your _friends_ anymore."

"Ami, please. She has a life and a career, it's not for us to judge." Kitamura said trying to deter her attacks.

"I'm not judging her." Ami lashed back, "I'm telling her the truth. We're her friends, and she hasn't spent more than an hour with us in the last three years. This will probably be our only chance to be together before things really begin to change for all of us. I'm leaving for Europe, you're returning to the U.S.;everyone is going their separate ways from here. This is probably be the last time we're all together for…" She stopped, realizing the gravity of what she'd just said.

With those all too real words, the room grew silent once more. Ami stared furiously at Minori who had begun to hang her head. The tension she was creating felt as if it were strangling everyone else in the room.

"Yes, this is probably the last time you'll all be together like this." Yasuko agreed calmly, "But isn't that natural? You're a group of highschool friends, each with your own dreams and ambitions. Eventually you were going to have to leave each other to achieve those dreams. While you've all done your best to stay together while realizing those wishes, it's come to the point where you have to decide if your dreams or your friends are more important."

Ami's eyes flared with rage for a moment, but they quickly grew somber and cold, "You're right." she said, sitting down in a chair in the corner, "I guess, I'm just trying to hang on to the only friends I've really had, but that isn't how life works. Maybe it really is time we go our separate ways…"

"I'm not leaving!" Minori mistakenly yelled, "I want to spend time with you guys. Everyday I'm away, I can't help but think about what everyone else is doing and why I can't be with the rest of you." She began to cry, but tried remain composed as she spoke, "If these are our last moments together… I'd give up everything just to be with all of you." She broke down and as her knees shook, she fell to the ground. "Please," she sobbed quietly, "don't let this be the end. Don't let this be it."

Kitamura grabbed both Ami's and Minori's hands, "This isn't the end, as long as we treasure our friendship, we'll find a way to spend time together again. Let's not think about what the future holds, let's just focus on our best friends' marriage."

As Kitamura finished, the door slammed open. In came running Maya, yelling, "THEY FOUND HER! THEY FOUND HER!"

"Then tell us where!" Ami yelled back at her, but Maya was out of breath from running and yelling. She was followed by Nanako Kashii.

"They didn't find her. All they know is that she is somewhere in the downtown shopping district." Nanako said in a low tone.

"Wait, you said 'they', Maya. Ryuuji left by himself." Kitamura questioned.

"Ryuuji's... Father… Helping…" she panted. Everyone froze and looked at each other, questioning how the unlikely duo had come together. After determining it must have been some kind of fate, they rushed out the door.

* * *

"I hate this silence, tell me a story." Takahiro blurted out as the two walked the streets of the city.

"What are you, a child? Don't just go around asking people to tell you stories." Ryuuji said, slightly annoyed at how casual he was still acting.

"Oh come on, don't be so stuck up. I barely know anything about you, this could be a fantastic bonding moment."

"Don't even try it, you're not willing to tell me anything about yourself right now, so I get the same choice."

"Oh yeah~?" Takahiro said grinning, and he sat down on the curb of the sidewalk, crossing his arms.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting for you to tell me a story."

"It's a waste of time, I'll tell you all about myself after we find Taiga."

"Nope. And either way, we can still look for her by sitting here. She's bound to walk by at some point."

Ryuuji took in a huge breath and sighed, realizing what Takahiro had said was probably true. He also began to think that if he told a story about himself, his father might interject with comments that could hint at who he was. "I don't really think there's anything too interesting to talk about concerning me." Ryuuji claimed as he sat down on the curb too.

"Well, talk about how you met your 'soon to be' wife." He chuckled, "I think it might be interesting to hear something about this girl."

"I wouldn't know where to begin with that. It started with each of us loving the other's best friend and somewhere along the line it…"

"It all changed?"

"Yeah. I can't really say why, but I remember waking up one morning and when I saw her, she took my breath away. At first, I thought it might be just a sign of getting used to being beside her, but then I almost lost her."

"A real eye-opener, isn't it?"

"What?"

"To think you're going to lose someone you love. That empty feeling. That pit in your stomach. The feeling of falling and no matter what you grasp at, you can't seem to stop."

"Did you lose someone you loved?" Ryuuji asked, hoping to catch a glimpse into his father's life.

"Something like that, but, if anything, it just woke me up to a truth that I had been trying to deny for too long. Anyway, keep going." Takahiro said, once again dodging any hints that Ryuuji could use to determine who he was.

"Well, after she disappeared, I realized how lonely I was. No matter where I went, or what I did, all the memories of her floated in my mind. When she came back, I thought I was going to lose it. Not only could I not stop thinking about her, but I couldn't get enough of being around her. I got so scared that I tried to push it all down and run away from it. I ended up tearing apart my friends and hurting those closest to me, but I came to accept it and I decided to stop running away from my problems."

"I can pretty much guess how it goes from there. You admitted your feelings and then you two started dating right?"

"You'd think. A perfect happy ending where the two of us have been together every day up to today. No, it didn't go that smoothly. Even after we chose what we wanted to do, even after we got all our friends support, we couldn't just run away into the sunset. We both realized that, in life, there isn't some fairytale ending and that, to be truly happy, we had to win both our parents' approval."

"I see. Must not have been easy winning the Aisaka's approval, especially with your background." His voice was low and sad, as if he regretted something about the facts of the situation. His mouth curled into a dark scowl and there was a hint of anger in his eyes which were glowering at the pavement.

"It was, but I think it was the best decision we could have made. Taiga left for a while, and I wasn't sure if she'd ever come back. I even debated going to find her and convincing her parents myself, but I knew that it wouldn't help. I trusted she'd be back when she had sorted everything out." Ryuuji paused, getting lost in the memories of his final months in High School. "When she did come back, so much had changed, but my feelings hadn't. We all celebrated her triumphant return to us and spent the whole night just talking with each other about what had happened."

Takahiro scoffed a bit as Ryuuji finished his story. "Pretty cliche, dontcha think? I can't lie though, it's a great story, you could probably turn into a whole novel."

"No one would read it though." Ryuuji laughed. The two smiled, staring off into the sky, leaving behind the problems that had plagued them not long ago.

* * *

"I'm sorry ma'am, I can't just give them to you if you can't pay for them." said the man standing behind the counter to a short girl in a torn wedding dress. "I'm really sorry, if you don't have any money I'll have to take them from you."

Taiga stared back with a burning anger behind her eyes, but the man kept a straight face. The stalemate would have continued if a voice didn't break the standing silence.

"Here, just put it on my bill and I'll pay for it all." A dark haired girl with black bows in her hair placed her things down on the counter and pulled out a card. "Just put it all on here." she said with a slight hint of pain in her voice.

While the man was putting their things in bags she mumbled things to herself like, "What a waste of good money" and "That idiot really rubbed off on me". When they finished, she handed Taiga her things and stormed out of the shop. Taiga quickly chased after her, trying to thank her for the help.

"What?" The girl said, not stopping even after hearing Taiga's call. "It's nothing, just forget about it."

"No, it is something, and would you please slow down, it's hard to keep up with you in this." Taiga was fumbling with the lower part of her dress and running after the girl.

"I'm not slowing down so you better just stop trying to keep up." She began to pick up pace and the gap between Taiga and her began to grow. Tagia decided that she wasn't going to make it in her current clothings and ripped off the bottom of her dress and took off the shoes she was wearing. With her restraints removed, she quickly caught the girl whose hair was tied in two tails on either side of her head, and tackled her onto the ground.

"If someone wants to thank you," she panted, "you should at least let them." Her head began to droop though and her stomach rumbled loudly as she laid atop of the dark haired girl.

"Hey would you get off of me already? You said your thanks, now just leave me alone." She said, trying to nudge Taiga off without hurting her, but she remained unresponsive. Her stomach continued to grumble loudly and she began mumbling something faintly.

The dark haired girl sighed heavily and picked up Taiga in a piggyback style of carrying. "That good hearted idiot must of rubbed off on me. That, or I really do have a lot of flab on my mind." She said to herself as she began to walk with Taiga lying limply over her shoulders.

* * *

"Is that…" Ami said, staring across the street at a dark haired girl with what seemed to be a child in a torn white dress strewn across her back. When she got a clear look, she sighed in relief and grief. "I go through all that effort to make her a nice dress and she just goes and ruins it."

She ran across the street to the dark haired girl and explained the situation that she had just been drawn into. "This girls getting married? That's gotta be illegal or something." The girl asked after hearing the explanation.

Ami sighed and chuckled a bit at her response. "She's a lot older than you'd think." Looking down at the passed out girl, Ami smiled with relief. Even if she would never admit it, she admired Taiga's ability to never act any other way than as herself. Even if the world was against her, she would never change who she was just to appease it. But something was different. Today, she wasn't acting like herself. She was running from something and Ami was ready to do anything to help her get back to normal.

"So, do you want to take her? I don't mean to be rude, but I have other things to do." The dark haired girl asked.

"Oh, yes, that would be the polite thing to do, wouldn't it miss…"

"Tohsaka."

"Ah, Miss Tohsaka. I'll take her, thank you for helping her." Ami said as she reached out to take Taiga off of her shoulders. But something unexpected happened.

"Not yet…" Taiga murmured, "I can't go back yet." and she clutched to Tohsaka's back.

"What does she mean, not yet?" Ami said aloud, pondering what her words meant. As she thought, a voice called out to her.

"Kawashima! Oh thank god you found her." Ami automatically recognized the voice to belong to Ryuuji.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry Miss Tohsaka, but I need you to do me a favor."

"You're not taking your friend back yet, are you?" she questioned, slumping her shoulders in the process.

"I'm so sorry. I promise I'll make it up to you, but please get her somewhere and clean her up. If at all possible, help her complete whatever she has planned." Ami said as she twirled around to face Ryuuji and his father approaching them. Just as Ami finished, Tohsaka began to run down the street, catching Ryuuji by surprise.

"Hey! Stop her!" he shouted, but he hadn't reacted yet. Takahiro, on the other hand, bolted into action immediately. Even before Ami could react he was sprinting past her and after Tohsaka and Taiga. She attempted to reach out to stop him, but she just couldn't get a grasp on his jacket.

Ryuuji began to run too, but Ami was prepared and tripped him to stop him from pursuing. "Oops, guess you should be a bit more careful about where you're walking Ryuuji." she teased.

As he picked himself up, he glared back at Ami, not appreciating her uncooperative attitude. "What the hell Ami?! If you're not gonna help me, at least have the decency to get the hell out of the way."

"Huh, so you can be a bit rude if you want to. Well, I'll be heading back to the church now, if you wanna keep wasting your time chasing after the little animal, be my guest." She said, waving her hand as she walked past him. Even if on the outside she seemed to feel nothing, her mind was worried for whatever Taiga had planned. ' _Please, come back soon.'_

 _ **A/N: I am so sorry to every person who reads, has read, or follows this story. I've been distracted and lazy so this chapter has been finished for almost 3 months and I just never wanted to edit it. I also felt it was missing something, but even after reading over it 6 or 7 times, I couldn't find a good way to add something without either spoiling future things or completely rewriting parts of it. Once again, I am so sorry about the long wait, and I'm so thankful for the people who take the time out of their day to read my stories. As for chapter 6... hopefully I won't do what I did with this chapter. I can't make any promises, but I'd really like to get two more chapters out before the end of the year as well as release a horde of brand new one-shots that all need a bit of work. Well, that's enough of a rant, thank you once again and hope you'll come back again to read what I write next.**_


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